Image publication

ABSTRACT

To better realize the great potential of amateur digital photography, the present invention introduces an integrated system for the acquisition, organization, manipulation, and publication of digital images by amateur digital photography enthusiasts. The system of the present invention first acquires images from a number of different image sources. Images acquired in the same image importing session are marked as coming from the same conceptual film roll. Next, a user is empowered to organize and manipulate the acquired images. The images may be organized by tagging the images with informative keywords and grouping images together into conceptual photo albums. Furthermore, the images may be manipulated by rotating, cropping, and removing red-eye. Finally, the system of the present invention provides simple intuitive image publish systems. A selected group of images may be published in a photobook, published onto the World Wide Web, or published as individual image prints with minimal computer knowledge on the part of the user.

FIELD OF THE INVENTION

The present invention relates to the field of digital photography. Inparticular the present invention discloses an intuitive system fordigital image acquisition, organization, manipulation, and publication.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

With traditional amateur film photography, the process often ends aftera film roll has been developed and returned to the photographer. Thephotographer obtains the developed photographs in an envelope andreviews the photographs with friends and family. Some energetic amateurphotographers select their favorite photographs and place thosephotographs into a photo album. However, most amateur photographs simplyend up in a shoebox at the back of the closet. Occasionally, the shoeboxis retrieved such that friends and family may view the photographs.

With the advent of digital photography, the possibility for organizingand publishing amateur photographs has greatly increased. Amateurphotographs can be published on the world-wide web (WWW) to allow anyoneon the Internet to view the photographs. Image manipulation programs canbe used to manipulate digital photographs in order to correct flaws,modify colors, etc. However, the potential of amateur digitalphotography largely remains unrealized. Most digital photographs arejust stashed away on hard disk drives are burned onto Compact DiscRead-Only Memories (CD-ROMs) and only occasionally viewed. A few digitalphotographs are emailed to friends and family.

To better realize the great potential of amateur digital photography, itis clear that better tools are needed for amateur digital photographyenthusiasts. These tools should be highly intuitive yet provide powerfulfeatures for the acquisition, organization, manipulation, andpublication of digital images.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

To better realize the great potential of amateur digital photography,the present invention introduces an integrated system for theacquisition, organization, manipulation, and publication of digitalimages by amateur digital photography enthusiasts. The system of thepresent invention first acquires images from a number of different imagesources. Images acquired in the same image importing session are markedas coming from the same conceptual film roll. Next, a user is empoweredto organize and manipulate the acquired images. The images may beorganized by tagging the images with informative keywords and groupingimages together into conceptual photo albums. The images may bemanipulated by rotating, cropping, and removing red-eye. Finally, thesystem of the present invention provides simple intuitive image publishsystems. A selected group of images may be published in a photobook,published onto the World Wide Web, or published as individual imageprints with minimal computer knowledge on the part of the user.

Other objects, features, and advantages of present invention will beapparent from the company drawings and from the following detaileddescription.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

The objects, features, and advantages of the present invention will beapparent to one skilled in the art in view of the following detaileddescription in which:

FIG. 1 illustrates a flow diagram that describes the over all flow fromimage acquisition to image publication using the system of the presentinvention.

FIG. 2 illustrates a block diagram of a computer system that may be usedto implement the teachings of the present invention.

FIG. 3 illustrates one embodiment of the main display screen of theimage organization and publishing system of the present invention.

FIG. 4 illustrates a view of the main display screen with film rolldividers appearing between different groups of images acquired into theimage organization and publishing system at different times.

FIG. 5 a illustrates the landscape aspect ratio for an image.

FIG. 5 b illustrates the portrait aspect ratio for an image.

FIG. 5 c illustrates a dotted line square box that ensures either alandscape or a portrait image will fit within its borders.

FIG. 5 d illustrates an example of image review window that displaysimages using the dotted line square box of FIG. 5 c.

FIG. 6 illustrates an example of a main image review window thatdisplays thumbnail images with view packing system of the presentinvention.

FIG. 7 illustrates a flow diagram describing the flow of producing aphotobook using the system of the present invention.

FIG. 8 a illustrates a style sheet for a portrait image page.

FIG. 8 b illustrates a style sheet for a landscape image page.

FIG. 8 c illustrates a style sheet for a dual portrait image page.

FIG. 8 d illustrates a style sheet for a dual landscape image page.

FIG. 8 e illustrates a style sheet for a image page with a landscapeimage and a portrait image.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT

A method and apparatus for the acquisition, organization, manipulation,and publication of digital images is disclosed. In the followingdescription, for purposes of explanation, specific nomenclature is setforth to provide a thorough understanding of the present invention.However, it will be apparent to one skilled in the art that thesespecific details are not required in order to practice the presentinvention. For example, the present invention has been described withreference to publishing images in a photobook, on a World Wide Web page,and as individual photographic prints. However, the system of thepresent invention can be used to publish images in other formats such aspostcards, magazines, and email messages.

Image Manipulation & Publishing System Overview

To better realize the great potential of amateur digital photography,the present invention introduces an integrated system for theacquisition, organization, manipulation, and publication of digitalimages by amateur digital photography enthusiasts. FIG. 1 illustrates aflow diagram that describes the over all flow from image acquisition toimage publication using the image organization and publishing system ofthe present invention.

Image Processing Flow

Referring to step 120 of FIG. 1, the first task is to capture imagesthat will be organized, manipulated, and published. The system of thepresent invention does not deal with the image capture stage since thatstage is the purview of digital cameras and color scanner systems. Notethat the images may be captured in any original source format (chemicalfilm photography or electronic digital photography) as long as a digitalversion of the original source image is available.

The image organization and publishing system of the present inventionbegins at step 130 where image acquisition is performed. The goal of theimage acquisition step is to get the images onto a computer system thatwill be used to organize, manipulate, and publish the images. The systemof the present invention allows digital images to be acquired fromvarious different sources such as digital cameras, CD-ROMS, and acrosscomputer networks. The image acquisition system of the present inventionrecords certain information to help organize the images.

After acquiring the captured images on the computer system, the acquiredimages are organized and manipulated at step 140. The image organizationand publishing system of the present invention provides a number ofintuitive yet powerful tools for organizing and manipulating theacquired images.

At step 150, the user of the image organization and publishing system ofthe present invention selects a set of desired images for publication.The user further selects a particular image publication system to usesince the system of the present invention uses an open architecture thatprovides more than one image publication system and allows additionalpublications systems to be added later.

Finally, at step 160 in FIG. 1, the image organization and publishingsystem of the present invention publishes the selected images using theselected publication system. Step 160 is illustrated in a dotted boxbecause not all of the work in step 160 will be performed by the imageorganization and publishing system of the present invention. Forexample, for certain publication systems, the image organization andpublishing system will send processed image data to another outsidesystem that will provide an end result such as a published photo book.

Image Processing Computer System

FIG. 2 illustrates an exemplary embodiment of a computer system 200 thatmay be used to implement the teachings of the present invention.Computer system 200 may be a typical personal computer system with aprocessor 210, a memory 220, and a bus controller 230 for controlling asystem bus 235. Various different Input/Output devices may be coupled tothe system bus 235 to allow the computer system 200 to interact with theoutside world. For example, computer system 200 includes theinput/output devices of a hard disk drive (HDD) 269, a display device261 (such as a CRT or flat panel display), a keyboard 251, a cursorcontrol device 253 (such as a computer mouse or track pad), a CompactDisc Read-Only-Memory (CD-ROM) Drive 280, and network interface 291 forcoupling to a network such as local area network (LAN) 295.

The image organization and publishing system 225 of the presentinvention resides in the memory 220 of computer system 200 as a set ofcomputer instructions. The image organization and publishing system mayalso reside as a program on a media device such as CD-ROM 281 used withCD-ROM drive 280. Alternatively, the image organization and publishingsystem may be obtained across a network such as the global Internet 299accessible through network interface 291.

Image Acquisition

Referring back to step 130 in FIG. 1, the first task of the imageorganization and publishing system of the present invention is toacquire digital images to process. Referring to FIG. 2, the acquiredimages are normally stored onto a mass storage device such as hard diskdrive (HDD) 269. In one embodiment of the present invention, the imageorganization and publishing system 225 may acquire digital images from anumber of different sources.

Digital Camera Image Acquisition

In a preferred embodiment of the present invention, the imageorganization and publishing system of the present invention includesdriver software necessary to automatically identify and interoperatewith several different types of digital cameras that may be coupled tothe host computer system.

For example, FIG. 2 illustrates a digital camera system 247 coupled toserial bus 245 controlled by serial bus interface 240 of the computersystem 200. Serial bus 245 may be a Universal Serial Bus (USB), an IEEE1394 Firewire serial bus, or any other type of serial bus.

In a preferred embodiment, image organization and publishing system 225is able to automatically recognize when digital camera system 247 iscoupled to computer system 200 such that the digital images in digitalcamera system 247 can be acquired. In one embodiment, the imageorganization and publishing system 225 would ask the user if he or shewould like to delete the transferred images off of digital camera system247 such that the same digital images would not be transferred again ata later time.

Other Image Acquisition Means

The image organization and publishing system 225 can also acquire imagesin a number of other manners. For example, film photographs may beplaced onto a floppy disc (not shown) or onto CD-ROM 281 by the filmdeveloper at the request of the film photographer. Such photos may beacquire by image organization and publishing system 225 by having theuser place the floppy disc (not shown) or CD-ROM 281 into theappropriate drive such as floppy disc drive (not show) or CD-ROM drive280.

Images may also be obtained through a computer network interface 291 ofcomputer system 200. For example, a user may obtain images from a WorldWide Web (WWW) site on the global Internet 299. Finally, images may alsobe obtained using a scanner (not shown) coupled to computer system 200as is wel known in the art.

Image Set Grouping

When the image organization and publishing system 225 acquires a set ofimages, the image organization and publishing system 225 identifies allthe images in some manner to indicate that the set of images arerelated. This objective may be achieved by marking all the images in theset with a unique set identifier. In this manner, a set of images thatare likely to be related will be kept together.

For example, when a user couples digital camera system 247 to computersystem 200, the image organization and publishing system 225 mayrecognize digital camera system 247 and inform the user that images maybe transferred from digital camera system 247. If the user transfersimages from digital camera system 247 onto computer system 200, theimage organization and publishing system 225 indicates that all theimages transferring during that session are related. As previously setforth, this may be achieved by marking all the images in the set with aunique set identifier. Alternatively, the transferred images may all begiven the same file creation date and time such that any programaccessing those transferred images could infer that the images arerelated since the images were all created at the same date and time.

Image Organization and Manipulation

Once images have been acquired into the computer system 200 used by theimage organization and publishing system 225, the image organization andpublishing system 225 displays the images to the user such that the usermay organize, manipulate, and publish the images. FIG. 3 illustrates oneembodiment of the main display screen 300 of the image organization andpublishing system 225.

Referring to FIG. 3, a main image review window 310 allows the user toview all the images that have been acquired in the image organizationand publishing system. The available digital images are displayed asthumbnail summary images within main image review window 310.

The size of the thumbnail summary images displayed within main imagereview window 310 may be varied using image size slider 313. By settingthe image size slider 313 to make the thumbnail images very small, alarge number of images may be viewed simultaneously within main imagereview window 310. Conversely, by setting the image size slider to makethe images large, fewer images may be view simultaneously but moredetail can be seen in each image displayed. The user may scroll throughthe various images using scroll bar 315. The main image review window310 acts as the “shoebox” for storing all the images available to theuser.

Film Roll Concept

As set forth in the previous section, images that are acquired into theimage organization and publishing system at the same time are groupedtogether into a related set. In one embodiment, such groupings areconceptually viewed as different “film rolls”.

The main image review window 310 can be used to display such film rollgroupings. FIG. 4 illustrates a view of the main display screen with a“film roll” checkbox 453 checked such that film roll dividers appearbetween different groups of images acquired into the image organizationand publishing system at different times. Specifically, the first twoimages are from a first “film roll” (image acquisition time), the nextfive images are from a second film roll, the two images are from a thirdfilm roll, and so on.

View Packing

The images displayed in the main image review window are presented in anaesthetically pleasing manner that optimizes the use of space.Specifically, the present invention introduces a “view packing” systemthat is analogous to proportional spacing in written documents.

Images generally come in two different aspect formats: landscape andportrait. FIG. 5 a illustrates the landscape format named since thatformat is generally used when photographing landscape images. FIG. 5 billustrates the portrait format that is generally used when taking aportrait photograph of human.

One method of displaying both landscape and portrait images together inan organized manner is to reserve a space for either shaped image. FIG.5 c illustrates a dotted line square box that ensures either a landscapeor a portrait image will fit within its borders. FIG. 5 d illustrates anexample of image review window that displays images using the dottedline square box of FIG. 5 c.

To more efficiently use display screen real estate, the view packingsystem of the present invention sequentially examines the ordered listof images and, for each image row, takes as many images as will fit on arow with an allowance for a minimum space between images. If there are alarge number of consecutive narrow portrait images, then a large numberof images will be displayed on a particular row. Alternatively, if thereare a large number of consecutive wider landscape images, then fewerimages will be displayed on a row.

FIG. 6 illustrates an example of a main image review window 600 thatdisplays thumbnail images with view packing. Referring to the first row610 of main image review window 600, only four landscape images couldfit in the row. The extra horizontal space for row 610 was uniformlyplaced between the landscape images.

In the second row, row 620, six narrow portrait images are presented.The narrow portrait images thus allow more images to be displayed on aparticular row. However, note that row 620 is taller than row 610 thatonly contains landscape images.

Row 630 contains two landscape images and three portrait images. Due thepresence of the tall portrait images, the mixed row 630 takes as muchvertical space as portrait only row 620. However, the narrow portraitimages do allow for some efficiency in the horizontal direction suchthat five images are displayed in row 630. Note that in mixed row 630,all the images (both portrait and landscape) are centered in thevertical direction.

By comparing the view packing system of FIG. 6 to the prior art systemof FIG. 5, one can easily see the display screen real estateefficiencies of the view packing system of the present invention.

Image Keyword Tagging

To help organize the images in the user's “shoebox”, the presentinvention provides an intuitive keyword tagging system. Referring backto FIG. 3, the main display screen 300 includes a keyword tagging bar340 for tagging images in the main image review window 310.

To tag a particular image or a set of images, a user simply selects thedesired image or images in the main image review window 310 and thenclicks on one of the keywords in the keyword tagging bar 340. To displayall the keyword tags associated with the images, the user may click the“keywords” checkbox 352 such that keywords associated with an image aredisplay below that image in the main image review window 310. Similarly,the user may display titles associated with each image by clicking onthe titles checkbox 351.

The keyword tagging bar 340 initially contains a number of commonkeywords that are relevant to photographs. For example, the keywords“Family”, “Vacation”, and “Holiday” allow a person to tag images asbeing related to their family members, their vacations, or holidaycelebrations, respectively. However, empty spaces are available on thekeyword tagging bar 340 to allow the user to create their own personalkeywords. In one embodiment, the user may apply a “keyword filter” suchthat the main image review window 310 only displays images containing aparticular keyword or set of keywords.

Two special keywords, “none” 341 and “

” 342, are also presented on the keyword tagging bar 340. The “none” 341keyword specifies that an image should have no keyword tags. Thus, the“none” 341 keyword can be used to clear existing keywords on an image.

The “

” 342 (check) keyword is a special keyword that is displayed on thefront of the thumbnail version of an image in the main image reviewwindow 310. The “

” 342 keyword is used to provide the user with a means for selecting aparticular image from a group of similar images. For example, the toprow of images in the main image review window 310 may contain fourimages of the same landscape. The user may carefully review all fourimages and select the third as the best image of the four images of thesame landscape. To remember that selection, the user may mark the thirdimage using the “

” 342 keyword button. Thus, the user will be reminded of that choice asillustrated by the

icon on the third image of the first row.

Photo Albums

To further organize the images, a user of the image organization andpublishing system allows the user to create conceptual “photo albums.” Aphoto album is a specific ordered list of images from the overallshoebox containing all the images. Each photo album is given adescriptive title.

Referring again to FIG. 3, the photo album list area 330 contains a listof photo albums. In FIG. 3, there are five photo albums titled “MexicoTrip”, “Christmas 2001”, “Yosemite Park”, “Santa Cruz”, and “Billy.” Inone embodiment, a user may view the images in a particular photo albumby selecting the name of the photo album such that only the images fromthat photo album are display in the main image review window 310. Notethat images in a photo album are in a specific order and that order isreflect in the main image review window 310. The user may rearrange theorder of the images by dragging and dropping the images within mainimage review window 310.

To create a new photo album, the user clicks on new album button 321that is marked with a “+”. The user provides a descriptive name for thenew photo album and then may begin dragging images from the shoebox anddropping the images onto the name of the new photo album. Additionalinformation may be obtained about a particular photo album by selectingthe photo album name and then clicking the information button 323.

To generate a quick slide show of the images in a photo album, the usermay select a particular photo album name and then click the slide show“play” button 322. The image organization and publishing system willthen sequentially display the images in full screen form on the displaysystem. A music track may be selected to accompany the slide show.

The slide show “play” button 322 may also be used to create a slide showof any group of images. Specifically, the user may select any group ofimages in the main image review window 310 and then click the slide show“play” button 322 to create a slide show of the selected images.

Image Editing

The image organization and publishing system of the present inventionprovides a set of features for editing the acquired images. Most of theimage editing tools are available in a separate image editing mode.However, referring to FIG. 3, an image in the main image review window310 may be rotated by selecting the image and then clicking the rotatebutton 324 that will rotate the image ninety degrees clockwise. Imagesmay be rotated counter-clockwise by holding down the keyboard shift keywhile clicking the rotate button 324.

In an image-editing mode, the present invention provides a set ofintuitive image editing tools for editing images. One editing tool is a“red-eye” removal tool. To use the red-eye tool, a user should highlightthe area of an image containing the red eyes and then clicking thered-eye tool. The user may also just click the red-eye tool withoutselecting an area of the image but better results will be provided whenonly a certain area of the screen is selected.

In order to prepare images for enlargement, the image-editing modeprovides an image-cropping tool. In a preferred embodiment, theimage-cropping tool allows the user to select the most common aspectratios used for creating reprints. Specifically, the image-editing modeprovides a cropping tool that can be locked in 3×5, 4×6, 5×7, and 8×0aspect ratios. In this manner, the user can select exactly how anenlargement will appear as opposed to the current traditionalphotography system wherein the film developer crops the image as neededto obtain the aspect ration of the selected reprint size.

In one embodiment, the image-editing mode of the present inventioncreates a new image file containing all the edits applied by the user.However, the original file of the unedited image is still keptunaltered. In this manner, the user may go back and retrieve theoriginal image if it is later needed.

Image Publication

After a user has organized and manipulated a set of images, the user maythen wish to publish the organized and manipulated a set of images. Thepresent invention provides an expandable system for publishing images.Specifically, the image organization and publishing system usesindividual image-publishing modules of code to provide image-publishingservices.

Three image-publishing modules are included in an initial embodiment ofthe present invention. Specifically, one embodiment includes a Photobookpublication module, a World Wide Web Homepage publication module, and aphotograph reprint publication module.

Photobook Publication

The photobook publication module allows a user to quickly and easilycreate an aesthetically pleasing photobook. The creation of a photobookwill be described with reference to the flow diagram in FIG. 7 and thestyle sheets in FIGS. 8 a to 8 e.

Referring to FIG. 7, the user must first create and select a photo albumas set forth in step 720. The creation of a photo album is described inthe previous sections. The user the selects the desired photo album andenters the photobook publication module as set forth in step 730.

Next, in step 740, the user must select a photobook style. The photobookpublication module contains a number of different photobook styles thatmay be selected. The photobook styles describe the overall appearance ofthe photobook that can be created.

Each photobook style consists of a series of different style sheets thatdescribe how each page of the photobook will appear. FIGS. 8 a and 8 billustrates two possible style sheets for a single image page in aphotobook. Specifically, FIG. 8 a illustrates a style sheet for aportrait image page wherein the solid line area is the location for theimage and the dotted line area is for a caption associated with theimage. Similarly, FIG. 8 b illustrates a style sheet for a landscapeimage page.

FIGS. 8 c, 8 d, and 8 e illustrate possible style sheets for a dualimage page in a photobook. The style sheet of FIG. 8 c is for twoportrait images, the style sheet of FIG. 8 d is for two landscapeimages, and the style sheet of FIG. 8 e is for a page with one landscapeimage and one portrait image.

The photobook publication module fills in style sheet pages in thetemplate photobook style until all the images in the photo album areexhausted. The photobook publication module automatically selects theproper style sheet depending on the image aspect ratio (portrait orlandscape). If the number of images in the photo album does not match upperfectly, one embodiment of the present invention leaves the final pageincomplete. In an alternate embodiment, the photobook publication moduleselects a style sheet with the exact number images needed for the lastpage.

Referring again to FIG. 7, the user may then manipulate theautomatically formatted photobook at step 750. Specifically, the usershould fill in the captions for the images. The user may reorder thepages in a photobook. The user may also reorder images or delete imagesfrom the photobook. In one embodiment, when the user reorders pages,reorders images, or deletes images in a photobook then the photobookpublication module propagates the changes back to the photo album usedto create the photobook.

In one embodiment, there is a “lock page” checkbox for each page in thephotobook layout. The lock page checkbox can be used to prevent otherchanges made to the photobook from affecting the locked page. Forexample, if the user locks a particular photobook page and then deletesan earlier image, the images in the locked page will not be split up inorder to fill in for the missing image. Instead, one embodiment of thepresent invention selects a style sheet with one less image needed forthe page before the locked page. In an alternative embodiment, an imageafter the locked page will be moved in front of the locked page.

Finally, when the user is satisfied with the photobook layout, the userrequests a final photobook formatting at step 760. In one embodiment,the photobook publication module processes the arranged photobook tocreate a Portable Document Format (PDF) file. Details on the PortableDocument Format can be found from Adobe Systems, Inc. of San Jose,Calif.

After creating the final formatting of the photobook, the user maypublish the photobook at step 770 by printing the photobook on a localprinter. However, to obtain a hardbound photobook, the photobookpublishing module allows the user to submit the formatted photobookdirectly to a custom book publisher across the Internet. Note that thissystem uses the locally available computing power to create thephotobook such that a difficult editing session across a computernetwork is not necessary.

Home Page Publication

A user may publish their images on the World Wide Web using a World WideWeb Homepage publication module. The World Wide Web Homepage publicationmodule operates in a very similar manner as the previously describedphotobook publication module.

Specifically, the user first selects a photo album and a template WorldWide Web Homepage style. The World Wide Web Homepage publication modulethen generates a proposed World Wide Web Homepage. The user may thenedit the proposed World Wide Web Homepage. When the user completes theediting of the proposed World Wide Web Homepage, the user may thensubmit the created World Wide Web Homepage to a World Wide Web hostingservice.

Individual Print Publication

Finally, the user may publish images as individual prints. To publish aset of prints, a user selects a group of images from the main imagereview window 310 or selects a photo album from the photo album area 330of FIG. 3 and then requests reprints. The photograph reprint publicationmodule then displays an electronic order form to the user with theselected images. The user may then select the quantity and size ofdesired for each of the images. A “quick order” selection may be used toindicate a desired quantity for all the selected images. In oneembodiment, the quick order selection also allows the user to select adesired size.

The foregoing has described an image organization and publishing system.It is contemplated that changes and modifications may be made by one ofordinary skill in the art, to the materials and arrangements of elementsof the present invention without departing from the scope of theinvention.

1-10. (canceled)
 11. A method for publishing images comprising: a)receiving a selection of a plurality of images that are stored; b)defining an arrangement of the selected images for publication; and c)publishing the selected images based on the arrangement, wherein saidpublishing entails transmitting the arrangement of the selected imagesacross the Internet for publication.
 12. The method of claim 11, whereinthe selected images are published collectively in one publication. 13.The method of claim 12, wherein the publishing comprises publishing theselected images to a photobook.
 14. The method of claim 13, wherein thetransmitting comprises transmitting the photobook to a custom bookpublisher to obtain a custom photobook that contains the imagesaccording to the arrangement of the images.
 15. The method of claim 11,wherein the defining the arrangement comprises: a) providing a pluralityof styles for arranging the images for publication; b) receiving auser's selection of a style; and c) presenting the user with templatesfor publishing the selected images according to the received styleselection.
 16. The method of claim 15 further comprising a)automatically specifying sufficient number of sheets for arranging theselected images; b) automatically specifying a layout style for eachsheet.
 17. The method of claim 16 further comprising automaticallyinserting the images in sheets.
 18. The method of claim 17 furthercomprising allowing the user to modify the automatically specifiedsheets.
 19. The method of claim 16 further comprising allowing the userto modify the automatically specified sheets.
 20. The method of claim11, wherein the publishing comprises publishing the selected images to apage on the world wide web.
 21. The method of claim 20 furthercomprising submitting the publication to a web hosting service topublish the images on the world wide web.
 22. The method of claim 20,wherein the arranging of the selected images comprises: a) automaticallygenerating a page on the world wide web that contains the selectedimages; and b) receiving modifications on the automatically generatedpage from the user; and c) modifying the automatically generated pagebased on said modifications.
 23. An application for publishing images,the application comprising: a) a plurality of publication templates; b)each publication template describing an arrangement for publishingimages; c) a publication module for receiving a user selection of apublication style from the plurality of available publication styles,and for populating the selected publication template with a set ofimages.
 24. The application of claim 23, wherein the publication moduleis further for transmitting the populated template across the Internetto a service for generating a publication of the set of images accordingto the template.
 25. The application of claim 23, wherein eachpublication style comprises a series of different style sheets thatdescribe how each page of the publication is to appear.
 26. Theapplication of claim 25, wherein at least one particular style sheet isfor a portrait image and at least another particular style sheet is fora landscape image.
 27. The application of claim 25, wherein each of aplurality of style sheets provides an area for a user to insert acaption associated with an image that is contained on the sheet.
 28. Theapplication of claim 25, wherein each of a plurality of style sheets arestyle sheets for arranging at least two images on a page in apublication.
 29. The application of claim 25, wherein each of aplurality of style sheets are sheets for arranging two portrait imageson a page in the publication.
 30. The application of claim 25, whereineach of a plurality of style sheets are sheets for arranging twolandscape images on a page in the publication.
 31. The application ofclaim 25, wherein each of a plurality of style sheets are sheets forarranging one portrait image and one landscape image on a page in thepublication.
 32. The application of claim 25, wherein the publicationmodule is for automatically filling in style sheet pages in a userselected publication style until all the images are exhausted.
 33. Theapplication of claim 32, wherein the publication module automaticallyselects the proper style sheet for a set of images depending on theimage aspect ratio of the set of images.
 34. The application of claim32, wherein the publication module allows the user to manipulate apublication after automatically filling in the pages of the publication.35. The application of claim 34, wherein the publication module allowsthe user to fill in the captions for the images on a plurality of pagesof the publication.
 36. The application of claim 34, wherein thepublication module allows the user to reorder the pages in thepublication.
 37. The application of claim 34, wherein the publicationmodule allows the user to reorder images or delete images from thepublication.
 38. The application of claim 34, wherein the publicationmodule provides a user with an ability to lock each of a plurality ofpages in the publication to prevent changes made to the publication fromaffecting the locked page.
 39. The application of claim 23, wherein thepublication module is a photobook publication module that allows a userto select a photobook style from several photobook styles, to generate aphotobook according to the selected photobook style, and to arrange theimages in the generated photobook.
 40. The application of claim 39,wherein the photobook module allows a user to submit the publicationdirectly to a custom book publisher across the Internet.
 41. Theapplication of claim 23, wherein the publication module is a webpagepublication module that allows a user to select a webpage style fromseveral webpage styles, to generate a webpage according to the selectedwebpage style, and to arrange the images in the generated webpage. 42.The application of claim 41, wherein the webpage module allows a user tosubmit the webpage directly to a web hosting service across theInternet.
 43. A method for publishing images comprising: a) receiving aselection of a plurality of images that are stored; b) defining anarrangement of the selected images for publication; and c) over anetwork, transmitting the arrangement to a custom book publisher toobtain a custom photobook that contains the images according to thearrangement of the images.
 44. The method of claim 43, wherein definingthe arrangement comprises: a) providing a plurality of styles forarranging the images for publication; b) receiving a user's selection ofa style; and c) presenting the user with templates for publishing theselected images according to the received style selection.
 45. Themethod of claim 44 further comprising a) automatically specifyingsufficient number of sheets for arranging the selected images; b)automatically specifying a layout style for each sheet.
 46. The methodof claim 45 further comprising automatically inserting the images insheets.
 47. The method of claim 46 further comprising allowing the userto modify the automatically specified sheets.
 48. The method of claim 45further comprising allowing the user to modify the automaticallyspecified sheets.